An electrochemical nanofilm sensor for determination of 1-hydroxypyrene using molecularly imprinted receptors

A novel electrochemical nanofilm sensor for 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) was developed based on a molecular imprinted TiO2 gel matrix, which was prepared with Ti(O-n-Bu)4 and 1-OHP using sol–gel technology. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that guest binding on the non-imprinted sensor resulted in nearly the same current changes for all guest molecules, indicating non-specific binding onto the TiO2 gel matrix. In contrast, binding at the molecular imprinted sensor revealed that the selectivity for 1-OHP relative to structurally related guest molecules was estimated to be 1.8–6.7 times greater at 1×10−9M, reflecting its specific adsorption and binding capacity for the template molecule.